A heart for a heart
by Lakritzwolf
Summary: Post AWE. Elizabeth sails the sea in pursuit of Will. He must surface to gather the souls of those who died at sea, a thing easily arranged by pirates. But Will wants his heart back... with the help of a soul pledged to the Dutchman. Jack Sparrow.
1. Chapter 1

Insert standard disclaimer here.

I must have been in a foul mood when I've written this, but I can't remember. It's not nice to any of the chars and it does not have a happy ending, but this thing in my head was making me aggressive, so I had to write it. I think it was Stephen King who once said that he is writing not to get mad, and I start to understand him. I occasionally feel like that…

Don't read this if you expect some kind of romance or love story, thus sparing you the pain of disappointment.

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„Fire!"

The canons roared, and in the dispersing cloud of powder smoke, Elizabeth could see that this time, they had hit right home. Their opponent's ship, and she neither knew the name of ship or captain nor did she care, leaned precariously sideways. She turned the wheel and aimed the Empress into their direction. Their opponent fired, but the balls splashed useless and wasted into the water left and right of the Empress' hull.

Even standing at the helm, Elizabeth could see before her eyes the front latches of the Empress open. „Fire!"

The canons roared again, and this time, hit the ship with a shower of splinters. The mast fell over with a creak and a shower of more wood, sails and ropes; and screaming men jumped overboard as the hull slowly broke apart. Elizabeth watched all this without malice, regret or greed. It was anticipation.

The waves had calmed down again, and only a handful of shattered pieces of wood bespoke of a ship that had been sailing these waters only moments ago. She could hear the cries of the drowning men and waited. He must come… it has been so long…  
She felt her heartbeat quicken as she recognised the familiar green flickering on the horizon. He would come…

The waves parted and spat out a ship, a ship that looked like it was sailing the sea of nightmares. Elizabeth's face lightened and she let go of the wheel.

„Will", she whispered and stared across the railing at the Flying Dutchman. The ship headed for them, slowly, and stopped when they were lying alongside. She watched with a racing heart as he climbed aboard, looking around him. „Will!"  
He looked up and saw her, but didn't smile.

Her heart sank. Last time, he had still been able to smile at her, if not laugh… but this time, he only looked at her as if it had been him she had tried to kill. Not that she could… or ever would. She loved him more than anything else, more than her life, than the sea, her freedom…

„Elizabeth", he said, crossing his arms as he walked up to her. „Why did you do that?"  
„Why?" She held out her hands in desperation. „Why? Will, because I wanted to be with you!"  
He looked at his feet and shook his head. „Elizabeth…"  
„What? I needed to see you, Will. See you, talk to you…" She gently reached out for him. „Touch you…" And he stepped back. Elizabeth stared open-mouthed at him and felt her heart break. He looked at her… how he looked at her! There was no warmth in his eyes anymore…  
„Will", she whispered, her vision blurring with tears. „Will… I did this because I love you, I want you… Will I need you… please…"  
He shook his head. „Elizabeth… what have you done? Why? You can not possibly murder so many innocent people and justify it with love?"  
„But what else can I do?", she asked desperately, trying to make him see. „I love you, and I can only see you…  
"When I surface to gather souls that have died on see", he snapped bitterly. „I know that well. So you sail the seas and sink ships randomly and at a whim just to make me come to you."

"Will…"

"I'm not your dog, Elizabeth. And this ship…"  
"I don't care about the ship! I care only about you!!"  
„I care!" He screamed at her. „I care! God Elizabeth, these people were innocent folk who fled the famine in their homelands to try and build a new life for themselves in the colonies! There were children on board!"  
She tried to swallow her tears but to no avail. „Will", she began, but he cut her short.  
„Elizabeth. I asked you twice not to do it again. What has become of the gentle lovely dove of a woman that I fell in love with? A murderess? Do you really expect me to love a murderess?"  
„Will…" Her voice faltered. „Will…"

He looked at her again. He was crying himself, tears were streaming down his cheeks. „God, Elizabeth… I should have died. It wouldn't have twisted your soul and made you able to move on…"  
"Don't say that", she begged. „Will…"  
He shook his head again. „Elizabeth… I can't. Sorry… You baffled me, the first time, but that was a pirate ship… the second time, you scared me, and you promised, you promised!!" He ran his hands across his face. „You promised not to do it again!"

She shook her head and tried to reach for him, and again, he took a step back. „"Will, I love you… I want to be close to you…"

he shook his head. „I should have died", he said darkly. „I only did this because of you, Elizabeth… because I did not want you to see me die… because I did want for a little bit of us… of some time for us in our lives…" He broke off and swallowed. „I do not know what else to say, Elizabeth. Obviously, you don't stop, even after you promised to. I will not ask you again. But I tell you that: I don't want to see you, ever again."

Elizabeth felt her stomach turn. Why couldn't he see? Did he think she was enjoying that? Didn't he see she loved and needed him? Why didn't he see?

He pulled his ring off his finger. "I set you free, Elizabeth", he said, dropping the ring before her feet. „You are not the woman I used to know… and I am afraid of you. I tried to love you… but you have turned into a murderess. I can not allow that. I can't allow you to murder in the name of your love for me!"  
„Not the woman you used to know…?" She didn't know what else to say. Inside her, something that had been burning for three years now had suddenly crumbled into a heap of cold and dusty ash.  
"No", he said. „I fell in love with a beautiful young woman, and not with a murderous, bloodthirsty pirate who stops at nothing to get what she wants."  
And with that, he turned and walked back to his ship.

„…_how do I know I can trust you?"_

„_You can't."_

Just like that. He turned and walked away, leaving Elizabeth heartbroken and despairing.

_Pirate._ That word came back to haunt her. _Pirate._

Stopping at nothing to get what she wants. _Pirate._

Killing people to reach her goals. _Pirate._

Sacrificing everything in her way to satisfy herself. _Pirate._

Sometimes she had wondered, and now she knew… Jack had seen deepest into her soul, after all. With good reason. She had sacrificed and killed him. And as he had looked into her eyes, he had seen it.

_Pirate._


	2. Chapter 2

Another year passed. Four years since they had married, four years since that fateful, cursed event that had led her to become a pirate… and had made Will hate and despise her.

What had become of the gentle dove of a woman?

Staring into the mirror, Elizabeth felt for the first time in these four years no more tears rising in her eyes as she stared at the long and pink scar that ran down her left side of her face, from the inner corner of the eye across the cheek down to the edge of her jaw. She saw it for the first time, she had not dared to look into a mirror during the last couple of weeks, since she had taken that gash. But now, she felt strangely unmoved by her appearance.

What had become of her?

A pirate. A murderous, bloodthirsty pirate. A robbing, murdering, ruthless, heartless pirate.

With a heavy sigh, she left her cabin and walked out on deck to take the helm. Yet he moment she took the wheel, closing her fingers around the spokes, she felt it again: The reason why.

Freedom.

The ship, the Empress, had given her freedom. A freedom she had never known when she had still been the gentle dove, the governors beautiful daughter. A freedom that Will never had been able to understand her longing for. And at this moment, she realised that the pain was gone. She had been grieving and crying a year… and today, she thought of Will for the first time without feeling the need to throw herself into the sea to drown her body in the water like her soul drowned in pain. She was no longer drowning.

Freedom.

The wind lashed a few escaped strands of hair into her face and whipped them around as she listened to the creaking of wood, the flapping of sails, the gushing of waves. Memories rose from her mind and flashed past before her eyes, pictures, frozen in time.

_Hoist the colours!_

A few snatches of conversation, shreds of sentences, words and feelings flashed up in her mind like fire worms, there for a second, gone the next.

_Elizabeth…_

_I love you, Elizabeth…_

_Will you keep it safe?_

She blinked and stared ahead, trying not to think of his eyes, his warm brown eyes, so full of love… but so full of hate when she last had seen them.

Eyes… She realised with the tiniest hint of dismay that she saw another pair of eyes. Brown eyes. But not Will's eyes.

_Peas in a pod, darling…_

She shook her head, but had to grin. It was no happy grin, more a resigned grimace of final acknowledgement. Peas in a pod.

The rigging creaked and Elizabeth looked up into the clouds that drifted across the blinding sun.

_A ship is more than a keel and a hull… _

She stared at the spokes before her.

…_and a deck and sails…_

Shaking her head to get rid of that voice, she gripped the spokes harder, but she couldn't help it. The voice was there, as if he was there, whispering into her ear.

…_that is what a ship needs. But what a ship really is…_

She blinked and realised that now, all of a sudden, there were the tears again. And here she wasn't even thinking of Will…

But how right had he been! He had known… and now it seemed to her that he had known her, as well. He had known her better than she had ever cared to realise…

…_what a ship really is…_

„…is freedom", she whispered, swallowing a lump in her throat.

The breeze that ruffled her hair now turned and blew straight into her face, drying her tears as fast as they sprung up.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x

She stood at a sandy beach, the crystal sand, azure sky and turquoise waters almost hurting her eyes in their brilliance. She stood knee deep in the water and had a pistol in her hand. Before her, on the beach, stood two men, looking at her with unmoving faces.

One of them was Will.

The other was Jack Sparrow.

She took two hesitating steps forward, looking at the pistol. Without knowing why and how she knew, she knew that there was only one shot in the pistol. She looked up again at the two men. Will came towards her, Jack remained where he was, slowly crossing his arms.

„Elizabeth", Will said. „Give me the gun."

She looked at him, her Will, her loving, caring Will, holding out his hand to her. She felt a smile spread on her lips as he smiled at her, then dropped the pistol in his hand.

„You shouldn't have this", Will said. „It's dangerous." Then he cocked the gun, aimed it at Jack, and fired. Jack toppled to his knees without a word, a flower of blood spreading on his shirt, then slowly fell over with his face in the sand.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x

Elizabeth awoke, drenched in sweat and gasping for air.

Will had killed Jack Sparrow… or had it been her, killing Jack herself with her feelings for Will?


	3. Chapter 3

She was no longer thinking of Will and her dream when she watched the merchant's ship sink. She was a pirate. He herself had told her so. Why should she now pretend to be something else?  
Maybe he would come before she would be far away enough. But this time, she would be making sure he knew she hadn't done it because of him.

The frigate turned and fired. Even with the ship they had come to protect being sunk and lost, they would, of course, fight and try to sink the pirates.

„Fire!"

They were no match for the Empress, however. But this time, Elizabeth was thinking of boarding and taking the ship rather than sinking it… a well equipped frigate could fetch a handsome price. She turned the wheel and told her crew to prepare for boarding. The Frenchmen fought with the fiercness and the desperation of men knowing they're doomed, and Elizabeth watched quite a few of her own men fall in the battle. She had joined the fight herself, had killed a man she assumed to be the captain and now fought a big and ugly man who sneerd at her, probably due to the fact she was a woman.

He didn't grin any more when she ran him through. „Filthy bastard", she muttered and turned around to look for another opponent, but the battle was almost over. The few last french soldiers threw down their weapons and when she looked across the starboard railing, she saw the last traces of the merchant vessel vanish.

And behind the whirlpool that was slowly calming down, another ship emerged. Not coming from the horizon, heading for them, it emerged from the waves. Elizabeth held her breath and shook her head. But there was no more feeling other than a trace of regret at what could have been and a hint of frustration and anger that he had refused her.

The Flying Dutchman slowly turned and headed towards the sunken merchant and Elizabeth turned and gave orders to attach the ship to the Empress to be towed to Tortuga.

She was about to leave the ship when she heard a voice call out behind her. She slowly turned and saw that the Dutchman was lying alongside the french vessel. Will stepped over the railing and shot her a calculating look. Elizabeth sheathed her sword. „In case you wonder", she said, walking towards him, „No, I didn't do this to make you come like a dog."  
She saw his face fall apart when she came nearer. He swallowed, licked his lips and then, as if in a desperate attempt of fruitless denial, shook his head. „Elizabeth…", he whispered. „My god… what happened to your face?"

She sighed, touching the scar on her cheek. „It was a fight."  
„A fight?" His eyes widened even more.  
"A fight", Elizabeth gave back and suddenly realised she was beginning to get annoyed. „I'm a pirate", she added. „Like you said. A murderous pirate. Is there something else you wanted?"  
„No", he said, shaking his head again. „I had hopes of…"  
"Of what? Me being a sweet girl of the neighbourhood again?"

Will took a step back, then shook his head one more time, this time with a sad, hopeless smile. „I was hoping there was still a trace of the woman I loved, you know…"  
"You yourself have thrown your wedding ring at my feet", she replied coldly. „It's time to move on, Will." And having said this, she felt she meant it, even if she had never consciously thought so before.

„Move on, yes", Will said tonelessly. „I think you are right, Elizabeth." And without another word, he jumped across the railing back onto the deck of his own ship again. Elizabeth watched him go and was about to turn when something from the corner of her eyes caught her attention.

Even later, as much as she thought about it, she could never have explained what it was that made her look towards the mast of the Flying Dutchman. Maybe a movement. Something unconsciously registered as something familiar. Or maybe sheer chance.

Whatever it was, Elizabeth felt the marrow of her bones slowly freeze to ice. The man standing there at the mast, tying a knot into a rope, was Jack Sparrow.

„Jack?", she asked in what was almost a whisper, her voice faltering. But he must have heard her, or maybe he had felt her eyes on her, for he suddenly looked up and his eyes met hers.  
He didn't smile. He didn't move. He gave no sign of recognition whatsoever, and after a few seconds, he bend down his head again to busy himself with his knot.  
Elizabeth couldn't help herself. She walked over to the railing and looked across the deck of the Dutchman. „Jack?"  
He looked up again and flashed her a grin that didn't reach his eyes. „Lizzie… been a while."  
„What… what are you doing here?", she asked, trying to ignore the cold feeling in her stomach. She knew, of course, what the crew of the Flying Dutchman was made of, and she realised she didn't want to believe it. _Not him as well…_

„How does it look like?", he snapped back with a snarl. Only then she realised he was wearing neither hat nor coat or waistcoat, just his shirt and belt. He wasn't even armed. „I'm a crewman of the Flying Dutchman. A ship, aye? So it looks like I could be a sailor, doing what a sailor does, aye? Sailing a ship? In my specific case, I'm tying up the rigging of this proud vessel." He dropped his rope ends and stared at her. „Do you have maybe any other stupid question about the bloody obvious?"

Elizabeth swallowed. She had the distinct feeling he shouldn't be shouting at her, that she hadn't done anything to him, but another voice inside her snarled that he had every right to hate her. More than anyone else.  
„Are you… are you dead, then?", she asked, and saw he was about to snap another smart reply, but then looked closer. Whatever he saw, it made him swallow whatever nastiness he was about to spit in her face and shrug. „No", he said. „I was about to. I've shipwrecked with me dinghy in a storm, and as I was about to loose my strength and with it, my grip onto the last shred of wood, guess who dropped in?"

He shrugged, and Elizabeth was pained to see that all the spirit and arrogance, all these things she had despised him so for, were gone from his eyes. And now that they were no longer there, she realised he was not the man he ought to be. He spoke in a low voice as he went on. „So I was faced with drowning or joining. And ye know… I didn't quite fancy dying yet. So I've pledged my sorry soul to the captain of the Dutchman. For one hundred years."

„Elizabeth" Will's voice behind her made her turn. „Elizabeth, I hate to interrupt your happy reconcilation, but we need to submerge. If you don't leave now, you have to stay here."

Elizabeth nodded, shot Jack another glance, trying to hide the sorrow in her soul from him. But she could see, the way he slowly cocked an eyebrow, that he saw. She shrugged, twitched a corner of her mouth and turned to leave as a thought struck her.

„Captain Turner", she said slowly, making Will and Jack raise their brows. „How about a quick game of dice?"


	4. Chapter 4

„A game?", Will asked flatly, and Elizabeth nodded. „A game… I've heard that it's possible to gamble a soul out of the service they have pledged them to.

"Now don't ye dare, Lizzie…", Jack began and she spun around to face him.

"Are you telling me you actually want to spend the next one hundred years on the Dutchman under Captain William Turner?", she asked, and he slowly bared his teeth in what was half a grin, half a snarl. But he didn't contradict.

„Will?" Elizabeth turned to look at Will again. „Pardon me, Captain Turner?"  
„A game of dice for a soul?", he said again and Elizabeth nodded. „Very well."

Someone fetched the dice. A board was struck up on two barrels to use as a table, two more barrels were propped up as chairs. Will sat down on one and indicated to the other. „Captain…  
"Swann", Elizabeth gave back with a emotionless smile. „Captain Swann."  
Will swallowed but nodded. „Captain Swann. May I have your stake then?"  
„My soul", she said. „My soul against the soul of Jack Sparrow."

„Lizzie", Jack said hastily, taking a step towards her. „Don't do that…"  
„I owe you a life, Jack", she said simply, resting her hand against his chest for a second.  
He clenched his jaws and was about to open his mouth to protest when she shook her head. „A debt", she said softy, so softly that only Jack could hear her. „A life for a life."  
„Aye", he said then. „Seems I can't stop ye anyway. But don't ye complain about it afterwards." He stepped back again and Elizabeth sat slowly down.

Will picked up his cup. The dice rattled and fell silent.

Elizabeth rolled her dice. The soft clacking of the dice in the cup sounded like roaring thunder in her ears.

Will peeked under his cup. „Three threes."  
Elizabeth did the same. „Four fours."

He narrowed his eyes. „Five fours."  
„Six fours."

Around them the crew of the Dutchman had fallen silent. No other noise could be heard than the splashing of the waves against the Dutchman's hull.

"Four fives."  
"Five fives."

"Six fives." He looked again, and Elizabeth looked again. No muscle in his face moved, but she as well had, in the last years, developed a certain kind of ruthlessness.  
"Five sixes."

He looked at her, a long, boring stare into the depth of her soul. Once, these eyes had invoked warm feelings of love and longing.

Now, the eyes were strange, unknown, and full of sorrow. Sorrow and regret, pain and even maybe fear.

He leaned back and knocked his cup over. A huff went through the crew.

„Leave now", he said, and Elizabeth wordlessly got up, only now realising she was trembling. The image of her dice had burned themselves into her soul: Three threes and a four and a six.

Staring at his dice now, she swallowed and slowly looked back at Will again. He didn't move a muscle in his face, but his eyes showed her everything she ever needed to know… and a lot of it were things she didn't want to know about.

He had thrown five sixes and a five. He had lost on purpose.

„I'll wait for you on the Empress", Elizabeth said to Jack and left the Flying Dutchman. She couldn't stand a second more under the silent, accusing, painful stare of her captain.

From her position at the helm, she watched Jack go below deck and the crew of the Dutchman slowly disperse again. Will went below as well, and she was wondering if he would have any words for Jack. She felt she would rather not know.

Jack gathered up his spare belongings, that is, a coat, a waistcoat, some weapons and his hat, when he heard Will's voice call out for him.

„Jack?"  
"What is it, Captain?"  
„I'm not your captain any more, Jack."  
Jack crossed his arms. „Then what is it, mate?"

Will stood before him, and having seen the exchange of looks between him and Elizabeth, Jack couldn't blame him for the haunted look in his eyes. „Captain Swann?", he asked in a low voice and Will nodded. „She sunk several ships with innocent people on board just to make me… come to her", he said, clenching his teeth. „I can't recognise her any more. That's not my Elizabeth any more… she's a…" He broke off with a wrench and swallowed.

"Jack…", he began again, making Jack lift an eyebrow at the sound of his voice. „I… I know we were never on… precisely good terms with each other…" He took a deep breath and ran a hand across his face. „But… but… I don't know how to…"  
Jack felt a sudden urge of pity for the man. „What d'ye want, Will?", he asked almost gently.  
„A favour", Will said. „Can you do something for me? For the sake of… of a friendship that never was… due to…"  
"A woman standing between us?", Jack finished his sentence. „I can't say I blame ye, mate. I'd have taken her as gladly as you did."

Will was silent for a while, and so was Jack. But when the captain of the Flying Dutchman looked up at him, he felt he could guess what it was he wanted, and if only by the look of utter pain and desolation in his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Feeling strangely torn between relief and regret, Elizabeth watched Jack emerge from below the deck of the Dutchman and slowly walk over to jump over the railing onto the deck of the Empress. He had a look around and went wordlessly below deck and Elizabeth left the helm and slowly walked down. Will had emerged onto the deck of the Dutchman again.

Feeling the need to get away from his accusing, painful stare Elizabeth went below to find Jack and show him his cabin. She indented to make him her first mate, having lost her own along with a couple of her crew in the fight against the Frenchmen.

She found him staring at some doors. „Where's the crew's quarter?", he asked her.  
"You surely don't mean to be a simple sailor again? Not Captain Jack Sparrow?"  
He lowered his brows. „Luv, I've got no ship any more. And only because you won me in a game of dice am I not one of the undead any more. There's no more Captain." He almost spat the word at her. „There's only me."

Elizabeth tried to ignore the pain inside her at his words. „I'm in need of a first mate, Jack."  
„Are ye? Think I'd qualify?"  
"I know no better helmsman, Jack."  
He slowly tilted his head. „Lizzie, I ask ye to be honest if ye can. Ye didn't risk yer own soul because ye needed a helmsman. Did ye?"  
She managed a smile. „No." He cocked an eyebrow. „No, not because I needed a helmsman. I've told you why. Because I owe you a life."

Elizabeth opened the door behind her and stepped inside. „Do you want the job?"  
He turned and looked over his shoulder as if contemplating the alternative, which was sharing the hull with the whole crew in a smelly, musty hanging cot in the darkness. „Oh, what the heck. Why not", he said with a hearty grin that still didn't reach his eyes and stepped past her into the empty cabin.

He dropped off his weapons, coat and hat on the bed and turned around again. „I guess I should thank ye, Lizzie", he said then. Elizabeth shook her head.  
„A thanks is not what I want to hear from you, Jack", she said and left him standing and staring at the empty door. He narrowed his eyes, tried to make sense of her last words and then shrugged, picking up his waistcoat. So he would steer a ship again… and even sailing the waves with the sun in his face, not the murky waters of the deep sea. But he still had the feeling he should have let himself drown. What good was a ship, even if you stood at the helm, if it wasn't your own? The absence of his ship, his beloved Pearl, sometimes pained him like the loss of a limb; still, after all these years.

But wind and sun were definitely better than what he had left behind and most definitely better than being dead.

Which reminded him of another, last duty for his old captain.

When Elizabeth stepped out onto the deck again, her first thought was that the Flying Dutchman was still lying there. Will was still standing there as well, and he stared over to her ship with a look of desperate longing that he didn't bother to hide any more.

_What is he waiting for, _she thought._ Surely not for me…_

And then suddenly, Will's face lightened up as he looked past her. Feeling some strange foreboding, Elizabeth slowly turned and saw Jack, wearing his coat again, saunter across the deck. Will jumped over the railing and walked up to meet him.

„What is that supposed to mean?", she asked and Jack flashed her an apologetic smile.  
"Did you find it?", Will asked and suddenly, Elizabeth felt something cold crawl down her spine. It? He surely couldn't mean…  
„Will?"  
He looked at her with a sad smile. „I want my heart back, Elizabeth."  
She took a step back. „You could have asked me!"  
„Would you have given it?"  
Elizabeth swallowed. „Of course…", she began, but she saw in Will's eyes that he didn't believe her. Did she herself believe it? She watched with a dry mouth as Jack produced the chest from under his coat and handed it to Will.

„It's of no use without the key", Elizabeth said lamely.  
Both men looked at her. „Will you give me the key?", Will asked, and Elizabeth reached into her shirt only to feel her stomach turn. „I…"  
She took a step back but Jack reached into one of his pockets with a sigh and held up the key.  
„Where did you get that from?", she asked, feeling her head begin to spin. He gave her a wry grin. „Stole it when I passed you by, luv."  
She shook her head in what was almost desperation. „I must say you've got some nimble hands, Jack Sparrow." And then he grinned, a true grin, and almost looked like the Jack she used to know, the Jack that had so annoyed her and yet…

She wrenched her thoughts away from that line, turning to look at Will again who slowly closed his fingers around the key. „Why didn't you ask me?", she said, feeling terribly hurt. „Why didn't you ask me for the chest and the key?"  
He gave her a cautious look and knelt down, setting the chest down before him. „I didn't want to take any chances, Elizabeth", he said, and she took a step back. Did he really so mistrust her? But obviously, he did. She watched with a feeling of dread rising in her soul as he inserted the key in the lock and slowly turned it around. The lock sprang open.

Jack slowly took a few steps forward and knelt down beside Will. „Don't ye do anything stupid, mate", he said, but Will smiled as he opened the box. „Nothing could be more stupid than the things I already did, Jack", he said and picked up his own, beating heart.  
„Thank you", he said then, looking deeply into Jack's eyes. „Thank you."  
Jack didn't reply, but a small furrow formed on his brow.

He could have stopped it. He could have avoided it. He had seen it coming. But the look William Turner had given him had stopped him. He had no right to hinder the man in doing the only thing that would bring him back his peace of soul and free him from his curse. A second, a split second, he had thought of doing it himself, but that split-second of thinking was too long for him to take any actions.

Will had pulled out a dagger and before Elizabeth could do so much as take a breath, he had plunged the knife into the heart.

He looked up with a slow, strange smile spreading on his face. Jack reached out to catch him and stop him from falling over and knelt down, gathering Will into his arms. A large blotch of blood spread on Will's chest, growing and growing, and he leaned his head against Jack's shoulder, looking up at him with a smile on his face. „Thank you, my friend", he said.

„No…" Elizabeth heard herself say, kneeling down on Will's other side. „Will… no…"  
He turned his head. „Let me go, Elizabeth", he muttered, a fine trickle of blood running down from the corner of his mouth. „It hurts too much."  
„Will…" she sobbed, but he shook his head, smiled at her and sighed. His head fell over and the knife slipped out of his lifeless fingers.

_Not again… no, not again…_

But no pleading would help; no tears would bring him back. This time, he was dead. She slowly looked up at Jack.  
„I didn't know, honestly", he said slowly. „I thought he just wanted it back."

Elizabeth shook her head in mute denial, but even as she did so, she realised that she was, in fact, not crying. It upset her, but whatever she did, the tears wouldn't come.

A heavy step behind them made both Jack and Elizabeth jerk their heads. Bootstrap was standing behind Elizabeth with a knife in his hand. "The Dutchman must always have a captain", he said in a toneless voice. „One of you."

Jack slowly stood up, as did Elizabeth. „Couldn't you ask someone else?", she asked, feeling something cold crawl down her spine.

„The Dutchman must always have a captain", Bootstrap said again, taking a step towards her. In his eyes, Elizabeth could see smouldering rage and knew at that moment he was blaming her for Will's death. And he wanted to make her pay… to make her captain of the Dutchman and rip her away from the living world forever.

„Bill." She slowly turned and saw Jack standing beside her, the chest in his hands. „The Dutchman will have a captain."  
Bill narrowed his eyes but didn't speak. He slowly took a step back, and Jack followed him.  
„Jack, no…", Elizabeth whispered and Jack turned, shortly before he reached the railing.  
"Lizzie…", he said. „It's you or me. Have another think about it. Be glad ye've saved me… otherwise it could've been only you."

She shook her head and covered her mouth with one hand. Jack shrugged. „Would've never worked between us, darling", he said and stepped aboard the Flying Dutchman.

She could do nothing and could only watch, but as Jack boarded the Dutchman, she felt another piece of her soul die. „I can't sacrifice you again, Jack. Don't do this!", she said and he turned around one more time. „I've already done it, Lizzie", he gave back and two men of the Dutchmen's crew stepped beside him, each holding on to one of his arms even though he didn't resist. Elizabeth could only shake her head.

„Turn away", Jack said urgently. „Elizabeth, please, turn away…"

But she was frozen on the spot and could only watch in horror as Bill Turner plunged his knife in Jack's chest. He threw back his head and screamed in agony, making Elizabeth cringe. Yet she was so petrified that she couldn't move any more.

Jack's screams died off into agonizing groans as Bill cut open his chest and ended in a rasp of breath when he ripped out the still beating heart. Elizabeth slowly sank down onto her knees.

With a stony face, Bill turned and placed the heart in the chest, dropped the lid and turned the key in the lock. Jack was hanging between the two men, only held upright by their grips to his arms, with blood streaming down his chest. They slowly laid him down and Bill looked back over to her.

„You should regret the day you were born", he said darkly. „You are a harbinger of doom."

Elizabeth shook her head again, but failed to speak. What could she have said, anyway? Clutching her throat with one hand, she watched as the Dutchman slowly submerged, leaving only a trace of foam in her wake as the waves had calmed down.

She finally managed to labour herself to her feet and slowly went down to her cabin, locking the door behind her. Only then, with the world locked out, she felt the first tears well up inside her. She had lost Will and Jack both in less than an hour and now, was more alone than she ever had been before. She fell down onto her bed and buried her face in the pillow.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x

She stood at a sandy beach, the crystal sand, azure sky and turquoise waters almost hurting her eyes in their brilliance. She stood knee deep in the water and had a pistol in her hand. Before her, on the beach, stood two men, looking at her with unmoving faces.

One of them was Will.

The other was Jack Sparrow.

„Give me the gun", Will said. „It's dangerous."

„No", she replied.

Will stepped forward. „Give me the gun, Elizabeth, love. You shouldn't have that. Please…"

She gave him the gun, watching a soft, loving smile spread on his face. Then he cocked the gun and shot Jack, and even as she opened her mouth to scream, he swivelled the gun around and shot himself.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x

Elizabeth awoke with a gasp that was almost a scream.

She lay awake for the rest of the night with a strange and unfamiliar feeling of emptiness in her chest, a numb sort of pain, like something that should be there, but wasn't, anymore.

And the realisation dawned on her that now, there was truly no one else left but her.


End file.
